Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

this one October 13, 2011

In Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon has doctor Claire, make the following observation,

“So many you can never touch, so many whose essence you can’t find, so many who slip through your fingers. But you can’t think about them. The only thing you can do—the only thing—is to try for the one who’s in front of you. Act as though this one patient is the only person in the world—because to do otherwise is to lose that one, too. One at a time, that’s all you can do. And you learn not to despair over all the ones you can’t help, but only to do what you can.” (p. 815)

This applies for teachers, social workers, and Rotarians as well. We can’t save everyone, but we can make a difference where we are. One by one.

Shawn Bird is a high school English teacher, poet, and YA author in the beautiful Shuswap region of British Columbia, Canada. She is a proud member of Rotary and a former Rotary Youth Exchange Student.